


Looking Right Through You

by theimpossiblepossiblegirl



Series: 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks [37]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Family Fluff, Kid Fic, Mentions of accidents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 09:05:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8007319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theimpossiblepossiblegirl/pseuds/theimpossiblepossiblegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When their daughter falls off a swing set, Rose and John rush her off to the hospital. To keep their son's spirits up, John tells him more about x-rays.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Looking Right Through You

**Author's Note:**

> Week Thirty-seven: A story about a scientific discovery.

It had been a flurry of running around once the screams started. John made it out to the backyard first, Rose quick on his heels. They had been in the house, John working, while Rose prepared dinner. The kids always played outside before dinner. Always. Tonight was different. Scarlett had been cranky and wanted to stay inside, but her younger brother, Nick, wanted to play. Rose always had her eye on the backyard as she cooked, but her back had been to the window too long.

This time it was Scarlett that had been injured and by the way she was cradling her arm, they knew it was broken. After making sure the oven was off, they were packed into the car and off to the hospital. Last year it had been Nick that they had to rush to the hospital with a concussion. Rose always mused that at least they took turns but had banned their youngest from playing on the playset for the next four months.

John sat with Nick in the waiting room as Rose was in the room with Scarlett. The boy sat quietly in his father’s lap and leaned his head against his chest.

“Daddy is Scar going to be okay?”

“Yeah, bud. She’s going to be fine. Mummy said they’re taking her for an x-ray.”

“What’s that?”

“They’re going to take a picture of her arm. It’s a special picture that goes through her skin but stops at her bones. They’ll be able to see if her arm is broken or not.” John pressed a kiss to the top of the boy’s head. “Remember when you fell and broke your leg? You had to get special pictures taken of your leg.”

“Is she going to have a cast too?”

“Yep.”

“She’s not going to like that.”

He chuckled softly and looked down at his son. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“We were playing on the swing and I told Scar I could go higher than her. I think she went forward too much and fell off.” Nick looked up at his dad, his eyes wide. “I didn’t mean for her to get hurt.”

“I know that and so does Scarlett. But you two have to be careful. Mummy said any more accidents and she is going to take down the playset.”

“But we love the playset.” Nick whined, his eyes full of tears. “Please don’t take it down.”

John wrapped his arms around his son and let him lean against his chest as he stood up, rocking the boy gently. At five years old, this was not something that occurred any more. “That’s up to Mummy, bud.” Trying to sooth the boy’s tears, John hummed gently. “Do you want to know more about x-rays?”

“Yeah.” He mumbled against his father’s chest, snuffling slightly.

“Right so, Wilhelm Roentgen, a German physicist, discovered X-rays in 1895. He was awarded the first-ever Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. You know that they can go through skin to see broken bones but the x-rays also allow them to scan suitcases to see if there is anything dangerous in those. They can save lives. Not just in hospitals but at airports and security checks.”

“You said Scar was going to be fine.” Nick gasped out, his eyes filling with tears again.

“What’s all this?” Rose’s voice sounded from behind father and son.

“Mummy.” Nick reached his arms out to his mum, his face red and splotchy.

“It’s all right, love.” Rose took the boy from his father’s arms and cuddled him against her chest as she placed a kiss on his forehead. “What’s happened?”

“Daddy said that x-rays save lives but he told me Scar was going to be fine.”

Rose glanced over at her husband, an amused smile on her lips before turning her attention back to their son. “She is, sweetheart. But sometimes, not in Scarlett’s case, they use x-rays as a way to see if there’s something dangerous in someone’s body. Like a disease. If they catch it in time, they can give the person medicine to make them better. But in Scarlett’s case, they’re taking a picture of her arm to see how bad the break was. But she’s fine and she’s asking for you.”

John pressed a kiss to his wife’s cheek as he rested his hand against their son’s back. “Do you want to go see her?”

“What if she’s mad at me?”

“She won’t be. Her falling wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.” His dad assured him.

“Daddy is right, Nick. Just like when you broke your leg while playing with her, it wasn’t her fault or your fault. It was an accident.”

Nick nodded his head slightly as he looked at his dad. “What else can x-rays do?”

“People used to use x-rays as hair removal, but that was over a hundred years ago and it was banned. Too dangerous.”

Nick’s eyes widened. “But if they can take pictures of people’s bones and stuff, how come that’s okay?”

Rose let out a quiet sigh. “That’s enough about x-rays, yeah? Let’s go see Scarlett. They’re getting ready to put her arm in a cast and she wants you to help her pick out the color.”

“Do they have purple?”

“I think so.”

John wrapped an arm around his wife and followed her down the hall to where their daughter was sitting with one of the nurses.

“Daddy! It’s broken in two places.” Scarlett told him, a proud smile on her lips. “Mummy said it reminded her of that time you fell off the ladder and broke your arm.”

Rose set Nick down on the bed next to his sister and thanked the nurse for sitting with her for them. “How about no more broken bones for a while, yeah? And no more playset. I will be sending it over to Gran’s house and the only time you’ll be allowed to play on it is over there.”

Both kids pouted but nodded their heads. John slipped his arm around his wife’s waist and drew her against his side. “Should have told her no when she said she was getting it for them.”

“Do you know how difficult it is to tell her no when it comes to her grandkids?” Rose mumbled quietly, letting out a quiet sniffle.

Despite the injuries over the years between both kids, he knew it was upsetting to see either of them in the hospital. “She’s fine, love.” John assured her, watching as Nick told Scarlett everything he learned about x-rays.

“I should have been out there with them.”

“You were busy with dinner. I should have been the one out there. But she’s fine. She’s not upset anymore. She’ll have a story to tell her friends when she goes back to school.”

“Yeah. It’s only the first week of summer holidays and we’ve already had one visit to the hospital.”

“First and last.” He promised her. “We got away with two last year. Maybe it’ll be better this year.”

“One of those visits was for you.” She reminded him, finally slipping her arm around his waist.

“That wasn’t my fault. Craig needed my help. How was I supposed to know I would go through the ceiling?”

Rose laughed softly and shook her head at him. Their kids definitely inherited his clumsiness. But she wouldn’t change one thing about her family.

Except maybe their hospital visits.


End file.
